Completions 2011

Friday, May 28, 2010

My completion percentage was at 89.94% as of yesterday, just a few achievements shy of finally hitting my target. So what do I go and do? Slap another new game on my tag, that's what. I figured that after ducking all of the review games that looked a bit grind worthy or challenging (by playing them on a second account) I really needed to power through one of them.

My choice for this task is now going to be Pure Football which actually looks fairly tough for a sports title, especially when it comes to the online stuff. Still after snagging the tutorial achievement there is no turning back now - I should be able to get about 700 points easy enough and then it will be pain and suffering to the finish. What fun.

I'm also still slogging away at Scene It: BOS too - I'm at 42 questions right in terms of Best Picture questions on the Pop Quiz round (I messed up the first couple I got which hopefully will not cost me in the long run). So two more of them should see me getting one of the final two achievements, then I can wipe my save game and start from scratch on 50's questions.

I've also decided to go back and do the DLC on Tomb Raider Legend and Dantes Inferno at some point as well. I have a ton of points sat around that cost me next to nothing so I may as well make use of them.

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Well now that the excitement is over I suppose it is back to business as usual. To be honest after I hit 100k I told myself I would stop playing as many crappy game and it was true to a point, though I still cannot resist playing something for a quick 1k. At least I only rent those crappy games now though, and stick to buying the high quality stuff, so it means that I am limited to how much dross I can play at any one time.

With 300k so far away I don't really have any immediate goals as such, perhaps 250k by the end of the year but even that isn't really set in stone. So for now I will just push onwards and tidy up my card a bit as I still have a medley of games outstanding that I could do with getting back to.

At the moment I've been spending time finishing off Scene It: BOS but it appears to have glitched on me for the last regular achievement - answering 10 50's movie questions correctly. I have been keeping a tally since I recommenced playing the game and I'm well over ten already, meaning I'll have to wipe my save and start anew which is a major chore. For now though I am trying to grind out 60 Best Picture questions on the Pop Quiz DLC as hopefully that will unlock as it should - no point deleting my save until that is done as it would mean more work in the long run.

After that I am determined to focus on L4D (assuming Smit ever gets sent a copy, ha ha) and get that bad boy done. I only need one Expert mode and about 25k worth of kills and then it will be done with, but I've been saying that for ages now - time to make good on that promise.

I'll also coerce Sam into helping me finish off Lego Star Wars and SW: Republic Heroes too, which will both be easy but lengthy co-op projects. Couple that with my upcoming assault on Halo 3 and there are a fair few things on my list, seems like for every game I complete there are two more waiting to take their place.

I think my main goal, as of now, is to get my outstanding games list (i.e those that I haven't completed the original 1k on) down to only 10-15 titles by the end of the year. So there we go, a new plan and one I should be able to see happen with a bit of patience.

Plenty of reviews recently too, with Splut/Second and UFC 2010 up in the last week (both certainly worth checking out if you haven't already) and now Pure Football on my doorstep today. Keeping me busy but also meaning less time to play the games I really want to - I totally need to get this writing gig on a professional level, ha ha!

Well, I'll try and make things a touch more interesting next time out - though I have noticed a major drop off in the number of people updating their blogs recently. Have gamers given up on reporting their shenanigans? I hope not.

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Seeing as I've hit another major milestone it seems only fair (in my eyes) to punish you all with a dull and lengthy post about how this all came about - possibly with a few thank you nods and winks along the way. As anyone over 100k will tell you, it is impossible to get there without some help from your firends along the way - mainly due to the sheer amount of co-op and multiplayer achievements that are out there.

Once again my planning has failed spectatcularly. As, with a bit of research, I could have hit 200k on the same day (two years later) that I hit 100k, sadly it is only by looking back now that I realised I had hit 100k on May 6th 2008. Still just over two years is not too shabby in my eyes, as even Stallion 'only' gets 100k a year so for me to be hitting half of that is pretty solid especially as I'm a bit more casual about gaming in general.

So I have a bigger chunk of score outstanding now, but a few less retail and arcade games outstanding. My completion ratio has shot up nicely too which was my main goal plus I'm higher up the rankings - though that may have more to do with a purge on cheaters by a number of sites then any effort on my part.

I've managed 94 retail completions in this 100k too which is not too shabby, plus 19 arcade completions too. Obviously some of those games may have been started during my initial 100k so I cannot honestly say that I've acquired 97,800 points from solely completing games. Throw some DLC into the mix and I have no idea what the hell has been acquired an when.

What I can say is that this 100k has included a lot more in the way of tougher completions and games I actually wanted to play too. Things like Call of Duty 3, Rainbow Six Vegas and Gears of War all tested my resolve when it came to multiplayer. While titles like Bayonetta, Bioshock 2 and Darksiders all gave me hours of joy. I think I've had a good mix of challenging titles and top notch games, though there has obviously been the odd easy title like Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs etc. I've also tried to manage my review titles fairly well - putting games on my card that I either enjoy or can blitz through, while using a backup account to review games I'm never going to want to see again (Planet 51 anyone?).

I now have 32 retail games with points still to attain (including DLC) and a mere 7 arcade titles in a similar vein. I don't count Chromehounds, Madden 07 or Family Game Night on these lists as they have unattainable achievements.

A list of thanks would be in order for sure and includes a lot fo people who have busted their asses to help me out over time:

My fiance - the only reason I can still play games is down to her patience. She puts up with me playing all hours and all manner of crap and even let me get a second console to make things easier on myself. She is also my co-op buddy for all LEGO games and any other games that take her fancy. If you are wondering why I haven't completed Beautiful Katamari or Viva Pinata 2 yet it is because I cannot play them without her present, ha ha!

Rich x360a - first and foremost amongst my friends list. The guy who has helped me play more online games than anyone I know. After soldiering through Army of Two together (before that cheap glitch for easy cash reared its head) we have gone on to boost all manner of games, though most notable being Rainbow Six Vegas and Gears of War - both of which took more time than I can imagine.

elSmitmyster - my other Gears of War cronie, though he will go down in infamy for telling that damn woodpecker joke. Also the guy who finally helped me finish off Looney Tunes Acme Arsenal - a true legend.

The Pr0fessional, x Golden 1 x and Method x360a - the other members of the Gears group that went through the horror of boosting at all hours of the day. Sadly the first two dropped out after a few months and Method joined us when we were nearly done and he was just starting - still he must have enjoyed our twelve hour marathon that garnered us all 1k worth of kills.

Webb x360a - my editor and evil overseer. The man that supplies me with a seemingly endless supply of average games to review, still it keeps me sane. He also witnessed my appalling aiming skills when we did Pro difficulty on Resi 5, I swear that no one killed the brainwashed Jill more than I did. I apologise profusely. We also slogged through the majority of Operation Flashpoint together.

Cru x360a - a party chat is always more fun when Crubie is involved, especially when the discussion takes in Leprechaun movies. We always seem to play terrible games together, with COD 3 and Damnation being obvious examples. Sorry about that Cru but at least you beat me in the GSL. She also has the dubious honour of lending me My Horse and Me 2.

Creech x360a - the reset king. We had the chance to play together on SupCom and HAWX which was a fun time, though don't even bother sending him a message when he is playing a strategy game, I did and got a ONE LETTER response. I kid you not. Also the man responsible for cleaning up all of those cheaters.

The Pants Party - to give him his formal title. He totally beat me to completing The Last Remnant but at least I beat him to 200k, though that may have more to do with his studies than my skills. Always the forum and RPG go to guy.

Stallion, Fro, Apple and Rand - the hardcore legends. People who have helped me and had help from me on any number of games and always provide the laughs in any party gathering. I'm sure they would much rather spend their time calling each other nubs and boosting any old crap than reading this waffle.

The rest - ha ha, don't feel bad to be in this category. I've just realised how long I've been rambling on really. I've been helped and had help from so many people over the years. So many games played and completed that it would be hard for me to not thank everyone. My friends list is quite short (only 50 people) and its because I only keep people on there if I speak to them regularly or play games with them. Kudos to you all and thanks for all of your help.

Monday, May 17, 2010

As much as I hate DLC (and I do) I will often download it in order to finsh games off. Mainly due to the fact I managed to get a load of really cheap MS points that have been sat on my profile ever since, when you have 8k worth of the buggers then you get a little less choosy about what you will spend it on, ha ha!

The last few weeks have seen me finishing off a whole bunch of DLC for a variety of games. Kicking things off, literally, was FIFA 09 which was a total grind but strangely satisfying too. After that I focused on Annex mode in Gears and Versus mode in Resident Evil 5. Both of these were a major drag to get through and really didn't add anything to the game at all, but at least they are finally done.

Annex mode proved just how broken the maths are in Gears once again, as it didn't unlock until I'd done well over 100 games of Annex. Considering even the shortest match can take eight minutes then every extra game was a total chore. At least Resident Evil knows how to keep count and the achievement for the final mode unlocked right after 30 matches won - though at five minutes a match it became rapidly boring after a while. Still, two more games to throw on the completed pile for now - one at 1250 and one at a bizarre 1400.

I also finished off Damnation last week by playing it in co-op with my second machine. It was a breeze to be honest though it quickly reminded me of just how BAD that game was in the first place. I'm just glad I will never have to go back to it. THE NIGHTMARES.........

I then proceeded to pretty much wreck my chance of 90% achievement completion (and 180 games completed) before 200k by playing Halo 3. I went from a mere 805 points to a whopping 1505 in a few short hours by just doing all of the easy DLC stuff. I still have 24 achievements left on the game for a mere 245 points reward, which will be a bit of a grind but at least it will be one more thing done.

I dipped back into Star Wars Republic Heroes too and snagged a few more points. The game is fairly easy and repetitive, so I'm hoping to get it done soon but my hands are kind of tied by the fact I'm playing it in co-op with my lovely lady. So I only really play it when she wants to.

My quest to finish L4D seems, ironically, dead in the water. So I may have to arrange a boosting session with some randoms in order to get it done. Being one level away for so long is really starting to get annoying now so I really hope I can find some helpers.

Last up, and bouncing back to DLC, I started to new Bioshock 2 achievements. The DLC is poorly implemented as you can only play on new maps if everyone in a game has bought the content, as there are no specific play lists for the new stuff. It means the only way you can get two of the achievements (As I did) is bt boosting. The other 100 points are for using the Rebirth feature once you hit level 50 - which I am close to attaining. Yet more DLC done and was it really worth it? Nah........

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Just realised that I hadn't added any reviews or completions for over a month, ha ha! So there are seven new reviews over there on the right along with a bunch of completions and what not. Nothing too major really but I suppose I should do better at keeping on top of these things.

I made a bit of a list a while back about what games I planned to complete in order to hit 90% completion and also to get to about 178 retail games complete. Progress has actually been better than hoped for:

Damnation, Left 4 Dead, Lego Star Wars, Gears of War and Where's Wally are the remnants of that list. I'm hoping to have at least two of them chalked off by the end of the week - namely Gears and Damnation. I'm also really hoping to get L4D done too but trying to find people to help me with the Blood Harvest campaign is proving trickier than I'd imagined. I'll get there someday.

As for Lego and Wally - I think they may well be left be the wayside in my attempt to hit 200k, as I'll be concentrating on doing Star Wars Republic Heroes instead. Assuming I finish everything else I set out to do (L4D, Damnation, Gears and SW: RH) then I'll have a whopping 60 points left to play with before hitting my target score - so if I snag those badboys in pretty much any game I've already started then it cannot hurt. Though I'm still unsure whether this will be enough to push me over 90% completion or not and I cannot be bothered doing the maths to find out.

An interesting thing I did discover though is that I'm already over 90% in terms of gamerscore attained/attainable. Just not in terms of actual achievements gained/gainable. So I do still aim to have both factors over the threshold fairly soon. Only 0.45% to go, yay!

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

I think that many exclamation marks may well be the sign of an unhinged mind, but I'll soldier on regardless.

If I wasn't such a slacker I could have planned ahead abit and maybe tied Seriously in with this post, or done some kind of in depth report/discussion or maybe even some kind of epic competition. Instead I'm just going to do what I always do and ramble on in an incoherent fashion - assuming that someone reads this nonsense and all of that jazz.

I've actually been on holiday (though not in the 'going away' sense) for the last week and a bit so it has meant plenty of time for gaming, plus quite a bit of time for planning my upcoming wedding but let's not get into that. As ever I never quite manage to get everything I wanted to play on the list but at least some good progress was made which is all I can ask for really.

First of all, I commited myself to finishing off the Ultimate Team DLC on FIFA 09 - I wasn't going to bother but then found out it was already on my hard drive so I must have downloaded it at some point and then forgot about it. Considering I can pick a copy of the game up for about £1.99 it was no big outlay. I also rented a copy so I could boost through all of the online tournaments, which still took the better part of two days. Then it came down to slogging through all of the offline tournaments which totalled up to 72 matches at eight minutes a match - fun stuff. I also had to trawl the online card trading system to get 14 cards for one team, a tough process but one I managed to accomplish with some shrewd trading.

I do hate DLC generally and this one was a total grind fest BUT at least it did offer value for money, considering I probably sunk about twenty hours into getting the 250 points then I can hardly complain I was short changed. Still it feels good to get it done with.

Next up was a review title, Iron Man 2, and I can easily say that it is one of the worst games I've played in a long time. Everything about it feels rushed and broken, so much so that it is a wonder the game was released at all. It is no wonder movie tie in games get such a bad reputation when things like this continue to surface, I'll post a link up to my review and you can see what I'm talking about.

On the plus side I managed to get the full 1k in about six hours or so - which included two full playthroughs of the game. It really is that short. Though I would only ever recommend it to die hard achievement junkies and anyone else should steer well clear.

I also saw the film this week, which was thankfully a lot more entertaining if a touch predictable. I always find Robert Downey Jr pretty funny and he delivered once again - it was the perfect popcorn style film really, one you don't have to pay too much attention to but can get a few cheap kicks out of watching. It actually made me go home and rewatch Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, which is an absoluely awesome film if you've never seen it, full of great dialogue and pretty overlooked. Val Kilmer is great in it too which is just an added surprise as he gets a pretty rough time critic wise.

I played through Dead to Rights on a back up account too (as I didn't want to slap it on my tag and mess up my completion, but I did end up breaking that plan anyway *sigh*) and it is a fairly average game. Nothing too terrible about it, but nothing too great either. Though it was fun watching a dog rip someones nuts off, ha ha! Again I'll slap up a link to the review fairly soon. It has to be said that I probably liked the game more just because it WASN'T Iron Man 2 - anything would seem better after that nightmare.

Anywho........

Next up I finished off Castle Crashers by grinding out the two online achievements which only took a couple of hours thanks to the pretty dead community there - I think I only ran into two other people the whole time I was playing it, so it made things mercifully easy.

I also messed around doing some more Annex on Gears, as I really wanted to get that done with but I only ended up getting to around seventy five matches won. Only three quarters of the way there but at least I can polish it off at my leisure.

What distracted me more was starting the Versus DLC on Resident Evil 5. I've done the two player stuff already so now we are grinding through the team games. We got Slayers mode done in a couple of nights and have moved onto the longer Survivors mode (5 minutes minimum a match), but we only managed to crank out 21 or the required 60 games so far. Which means another four hours of play time. A few months ago this would have seemed like a lot for one thirty point achievement but after Seriously everything else seems short and simple, ha ha! Hopefully we'll finish that bad boy off this week.

Next up I slogged through Desperate Escape on Pro difficulty with Rich (more Resi 5). Trust me when I say that it is a total bitch in terms of difficulty. Mainly due to annoying spiders and Reapers which often take you out in one hit while your back is turned. Still we struggled through it all and finally made it through the finale by running around like headless chickens for the last thirty seconds. Anything to make it through. Hell, we even got an S rank which was a miracle considering how much we died.

I then ended up started Star Wars Republic Heroes - as my lady wanted to play a game with me and that was her choice. It may well put paid to my 90% completion ratio being hit before I get to 200k but what the hell, at least we had some fun with it and the game is fairly straight forward so I'll enjoy running through it with her.

After slapping a game on my card that I hadn't intended to I figured that it would make sense to try and finish off some older stuff. Never one to shy away from a challenge I went after Operation Flashpoint. I had to finish up the last three missions on Hardcore mode SOLO, as I'd started it with Webb months ago but he was always too busy to go back and finish it up.

It took me hours to get through those levels, as even one bullet can end a mission and there are no checkpoints so it is back to square one. It doesn't help that your A.I team are so dumb or that the opposition are seemingly crack shots. Still I did myself proud and got through it OK, I then went back and got the few achievements I'd missed - like blowing up a vehicle with a mine or killing someone by dropping a helicopter on them. Nothing too taxing but it's a nice completion to have.

After getting through that game solo I figured I could do the same with Damnation - I'd use my second box to get the co-op achievement as your partner just spawns with you at checkpoints so I wouldn't even have to move them. I'll start that this week and hopefully get it chalked off my list as well. Though my real focus will be getting Expert done (finally) on L4D, assuming I can find enough partners to assist me. Fingers crossed.

Well, I think I've rambled enough for now. I've got to get back to reviewing NIER and generally wasting my life on games.